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Much of this information, the data, the photos etc. comes directly from the veterans, the veterans' organizations and is the most accurate available anywhere..............much of this information is not even known elsewhere.
 

TYPE BUILDER LAUNCHED
II-B Deutsches Werft (Kiel) 21 Dec 1935
     
COMMISSIONED FELDPOST Nr. SUNK
16 Jan 1936 M23036 10 Sep 1944
     
SUNK BY LOCATION SUNK POSITION SUNK
hew crew Erekli, Turkey  

             No men lost   *

Commanders of U-19 include:

LAST NAME FIRST NAME RANK FROM TO OTHER BOATS COMMENTS
Schutze Victor KPT zS 16 Jan 1936   U-11, U-25 and U-105  
Meckel Hans FK     U-3  
Müller-Arnecke Wilhelm KK    2 Nov 1939    2 Jan 1940    
Schepke Joachim Kplt    2 Jan 1940 26 Apr 1940 U-100 KIA aboard U-100
Prellberg Wilfried KK 26 Apr 1940 20 Jun 1940 U-31  
Lohmeyer Peter KK 20 Jun 1940 18 Oct 1940 U-138 and U-651  
Kaufmann Wolfgang Kplt 18 Oct 1940    8 Nov 1940 U-9 and U-79  
Schendel Rudolf KK    8 Nov 1940 31 May 1941 U-134 and U-2509  
Litterscheid   Kplt 31 May 1941 12 Jun 1941 U-411  
Gaude Hans Ludwig Kplt 20 Dec 1943   U-3525 and U-2343  
Verpooten   Oblt zS        
Ohlenberg Willy Oblt zS        

U-19 was initially attached to the U-Bootflottille Weddigen and the 1st U-Bootflottille then based at Kiel.  In June 1940, she was transferred to the 24th and 22nd U-Bootflottille as a Schulboot (school boat) until April 1942.  This was one of the six Type II-B boats that were decommissioned and disassembled then shipped by rivers and autobahn to the Rumanian coast.  U-19 and the other five were reconstructed and recommissioned into the 30th U-Bootflottille based out of Costanzia, Rumania to attack Soviet shipping on the Black Sea.
 

     

 U-19 on patrol.............photos courtesy of a crewmember of U-19

While with the 1st U-Bootflottille, U-19 had several patrols in the North Sea including mine laying off Yarmouth, England over the night of 16-17 October 1939 and again off Orfordness on 18 November 1939.

 SPECIAL NOTE; MORE INFORMATION - There is much more information on this boat and others in our book "The Rare Types".   CLICK HERE for more information on this boat.

U-19 was recommissioned in the 30th U-Bootflottille on the Black Sea and patrolled there against Soviet shipping until the Red Army was closing in on their base.  This boat was sailed across the Black Sea and the crew scuttled her off the Turkish coast near Erekli.  The Skipper and three crewmen were interned in Turkey.  There is no record what happened to the other crewmen but apparently they were repatriated.
 

 
Victor Schutze Joachim Schepke  


                  SHIPS SUNK BY U-19 (Meckel commanding)

DATE NAME NATION TYPE GRT
21 October 1939 CAPITAINE EDMOND
     LABORIE		 France Freighter 3,087 tons
21 October 1939 DEODATA Norway Freighter 3,295 tons
21 October 1939 KONSTANTINOS
     HADJIPATERAS		 Greece Freighter 5,962 tons

NOTE - the three ships above ran onto mines laid by U-19 on 17 October 1939.

                  SHIPS SUNK BY U-19 (Schepke commanding)

DATE NAME NATION TYPE GRT
   9 January 1940 MANX Norway Freighter 1,343 tons
23 January 1940 BALTANGLIA England Freighter 1,523 tons
23 January 1940 PLUTO Norway Freighter 1,598 tons
25 January 1940 LOUVAIN   * Belgium Freighter 4,434 tons
25 January 1940 GUDVEIG Norway Freighter 1,300 tons
20 March 1940 MINSK Denmark Freighter 1,229 tons
20 March 1940 CHARKOW Denmark Freighter 1,026 tons
20 March 1940 VIKING Denmark Freighter 1,153 tons
20 March 1940 BOTHAL Denmark Freighter 2,109 tons

*  NOTE - LOUVAIN flew the Belgian Flag but was actually the Latvian ship EVERNE
 

BALTANGLIA MINSK
   
CHARKOW VIKING

On 20 February 1940, Schepke fired at the 5,000 ton British tanker DAGHESTAN (photo right) but the torpedo detonated prematurely a few yards from the side of the ship, merely damaging her.


                  SHIPS SUNK BY U-19 (Gaude commanding)

DATE NAME NATION TYPE GRT
14 February 1943 KRASNYJ
     PROFINTERN		 Soviet Freighter 4,648 tons

On 23 March 1943, they observed one hit on a Soviet freighter of about 2,000 tons but could not observe further.

 

                  SHIPS SUNK BY U-19 (Ohlenberg commanding)

DATE NAME NATION TYPE GRT
27 June 1944 unknown Soviet Freighter unknown
  2 September 1944 VARYO ETSC 410 Soviet Freighter    441 tons


  *  One of the crewmen of U-19 was killed in March 1945 in an accident months after the boat was scuttled.  He was Obermaschinist Walter Schmidt, born 12 March 1916.

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Many thanks to our friend and Sharkhunters Member since 1987 GEORG HÖGEL for all the conning tower emblems used in our monthly KTB Magazine and also here on the pages of our website.  GEORG was radioman aboard U-30, the first boat into combat, the first to sink a ship (the liner ATHENIA) and the first into an occupied French port.  When that Skipper (Lemp) took command of U-110, GEORG was one of the former crew to transfer to the new boat under Lemp.  After the war, he was Professor of Art at a major German university.